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1. |
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2. |
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Outside of time
Ancestral mystery
Fathering Andean crypts and wandering to sea
Swallowed by doldrums to an unknown destiny
We shall take flight
Six netherworlding farers’ history
Our trades are many though our instruments are few
To forge an ancient passage in Tuamotu
Gone with the floods
Our only hope to cross the jungle’s ends
But still with baited breath I know we’ll find a way to run the Devil’s haul
Shore in retreat
As it is with greater horizons on the other side
The sails hoisted and the banners raised up high
Our Equatorial admission drawing nigh
The waves’ conceit
Will surely find a way to turn the tide
Through glaucous chasms with their misting ivory crowns
The coastal epochs clouding up and backing down
On the horizon
Storming the sea
The ocean howling endlessly
Tectonic vengeance
Winds of the east
Tiding the nords to the mark of the beast
Our vessel is wasted
I am drenched to the bone
Ashore with this oaken messiah of stone
Crowning the reef
With eastern spoils for our company
My feet within the sands I gaze upon the stars
Witnessing missionary failures from afar
On high relief
Callao to copra grinning oversea
One hundred suns afield we’ve forged upon the mast
Three score our kin will find them in the looking glass.
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3. |
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Halo in the dead of night
The sanctuary my guiding light
Streets are dead, the air is black
Archpriest in for the attack
Thirty score and thirty reigns
Won’t undo this endless pain
Witches in the Lord’s domain
Never see the light again
Bound in mortal savagery
Magic, sin and heresy
Shackled in the lie we fight
The council’s blood will spill tonight
Night, with the darkness falling
Hand of Sathanas reigning down
Upon this coven
Bred in secrecy
To the wrath of God we pledge
Suffering and agony
Blessed by the will to end this tyranny
Death to the Golden Age at hand
To the ones who cast me down
And decree that I shall never see the light
Yet deceptively exact
All your magic and your spells
Aren’t enough to end this ghastly, ill-bred site
Centuries of oppression breeding endless servitude
Flesh and blood we’ve given you is shamelessly subdued
Altar of hypocrisy now falling like rain
Imminent this prophecy unfolding once again
Clouds of smoke consume the sky as fire burns below
Cities crumble, kingdoms fall, a noble seed we sow
For the servants thou hast slain with deadly effigies
I dissipate my vengeance by God’s own decree
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4. |
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Behind, the ravages of war
Ahead, they beckon us for more
Draw back, your bows and take your aim
Let fly, our fiery death shall rain
Advance, let loose with savagery
Attack, hail steel diplomacy
March forth, through blood-soaked moors and dales
Delight, in dying armies’ wails
Onward, bring death to all our foes
Behead, all those who dare oppose
Destroy, those spouting heresy
Against, our righteous kings and noble priests
Obey, don’t question what is right
Accept, you’ll never win this fight
In death, you’ll find your liberty
This life, down on your wretched knees
They shall sing of our deeds, in halls flung afar
Crushed under our feet, the land bears the scars
Let arrows fly
Blacken the sky
Their bodies are torn
Their vile ways are done
Their widows are forlorn
Their ranks reduced to none
Their blood, it soaks the ground
Their cities set to flame
They raise not a sound
Their kingdoms we have claimed
They shall sing of our deeds, in halls flung afar
Crushed under our feet, the land bears the scars
Let arrows fly
Blacken the sky
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5. |
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As we ride away
Say farewell to light & life
[Legolas:]
Down the hill from the horse lords’ hall
At the roots of the mountains pale
Twisted trees and a deathly pall
Only choice is that haunted vale
[Gimli:]
Into the dark
Through that gaping door
[The Grey Company:]
Far beneath the world
In hastened fear we tread
From Harrowdale
Along the paths of the dead
White Mountains above
Lurking doom we dread
Unknown tongues call to us
On the paths of the dead
They’ve dwelt in guilt and shame
These cowards trapped ‘twixt life and death
But soon...they shall fight
[Aragorn:]
Sudden blast and the torches die
Yet we press ever onwards now
Coming out under open skies
Hear my call and redeem your vow
Sworn on the stone
Come now and atone
[The Grey Company:]
Far beneath the world
In hastened fear we tread
From Harrowdale
Along the paths of the dead
White Mountains above
Lurking doom we dread
Unknown tongues call to us
On the paths of the dead
[Aragorn:]
Long was my road
In winding miles and years
My secret load
Guided by ancient seers
Down from the north
Driven by urgent need
Thus I set forth
Forced to ancestral deed
We have come hence
[The Dead:]
TO FULFIL THE OATH WE SWORE
[Aragorn:]
Crush Mordor’s servants
End the curse of Isildur
[Gimli/The Dead:]
His banner
Unfurls now
It’s black as night, yet somehow
They see it
With dead eyes
The seven stars of his line
The blade that
Was broken
The heir of kings has spoken
Commanded
We march on
And pass the Vale of Morthond
Narsil’s shards are whole again
A flame to light the Age of Men
Legions of the dead behind
As they emerge one final time from
[The Grey Company:]
Far beneath the world
In hastened fear we tread
From Harrowdale
Along the paths of the dead
White Mountains above
Lurking doom we dread
Unknown tongues call to us
On the paths of the dead
And so we push towards
The southern line of Sauron’s hordes
The field of Pelennor
Cries out in anguish, bathed in gore
So we set our sails
Borne on mighty Anduin
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6. |
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Evil deeds it has long seen
Bathed in martyr’s blood
Victors it has made
Have fallen to its blade
All who wield it fate has shielded
Eternal victory
Forged in darkest fire
Raging ever higher
Battles have been won
Dynasties undone
The sword of ages
War it wages
Victory is near
Dreams in restlessness
Night descends like madness
Silence in the shadows
Captivating all who fear
Swear on the steel
In blood it’s sealed
Sworn to victory
Twist of fate
A cold death waits
Sworn to victory
Surrounded now we find ourselves
They have left no escape
Gaze into the blackened eyes
See the agony take shape
The skies will mourn this darkened day
The rivers will run red
The treacherous deeds will be repaid
By the souls of the dead
In his hands, exalted blade
The sword does not betray
He who bears it shall never fall
So claims the ancient lore
Scores of men come to their end
Their lives gone one by one
Shattered, battered,
Broken lie the fallen
We have won
Jealousy and growing greed
The bearer’s blood is freed
As fate again is carried out
By hands that now betray
Run on his sword a noble lord
Now holds the fabled blade
He is crowned
And mortals downed
The time will come to pay
You will pay with your life
By the sword
We are sworn to victory
Swear on the steel
In blood it’s sealed
Sworn to victory
Twist of fate
A cold death waits
Sworn to victory
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7. |
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Under a spell of regressive unease
Struggle to gather what my mind decrees
Scattered about are these visions of mine
With tidings of war, and the ghastly ill signs
Men of deception creating the ultimate divine
Creed and corruption dancing with fate as they entwine
Standing alone here in search of the key
To fortunes we'd hitherto never foresee
A price for the living of lives so in vain
That yearn for the threshold of pleasure and pain
Shattered and lifeless disfiguring everything I see
Screams of redemption, bleeding into a misery
Where the twisted one dwells casting archaic spells unto me
Just once in time I failed to see
The flash of darkness in your eyes
That shed my blindness away
To manifest within mankind
A ceremony of infernal might
Paints your hollow prophecies with fire!
Our life continues
A futile waste of man
Bereft of all progression
Never to understand
So the moral chains of existence
Are sealed to well within
Quest for darkness continues
Death of man begins
And slowly we fade into the edges of time
Cold, shattered and grim
Crossing the plain
Black is the air
With silence insane
Eyes peer through the mist
Seeing the light
Stricken with fear entranced buy the sight
Child, follow me now
Into my home
Dismal and bleak
This kingdom I roam
There, over the hills
Lies the abyss
There you will find
Solace and bliss
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8. |
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Dark deception, secrecy
The Pope ensnared by common greed
Mighty servants, of God above
Into the fire they ride!
With the first rays of the rising sun
To my messengers, my will on earth be done
Take them from their homes
Lock them in your cells
Their souls shall burn in Hell!
Day of darkness, dawn of death
Frosty morning, frozen breath
Wicked treachery, borne by holy men
Do not believe their lies!
In the year of our lord, 1307
Endowed by all the power of Heaven
Open your orders, synchronized by me
The Templars will have no chance to flee
The first rays of the rising sun
To my messengers, my will on earth be done
Take them from their homes
Lock them in your cells
Their souls shall burn in Hell!
Onto the stake, into the flames of wrath
Go forth and make their chains secure
Incinerate the heretics
To make my Europe pure
Their wealth will now be mine, and
All power unto me
They never fell at Antioch
Their fortress was not breached
In battle they were mightier than
The Arab Saladin
Guardians of the Holy Land
This morning (shall) die by my own hand
Light the torches, flames shall bathe the square
The Knights of Christ must die!
Through the darkness, majesty
Templar sails, a crew upon the sea
Search the frozen waves and distant shores
Their spirits ride with us!
On the first rays of the rising sun
To my messengers, my will on earth be done
Take them from their homes
Lock them in your cells
Their souls shall burn in Hell!
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9. |
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Outside of time
Ancestral mystery
Fathering Andean crypts and wandering to sea
Swallowed by doldrums to an unknown destiny
We shall take flight
Six netherworlding farers’ history
Our trades are many though our instruments are few
To forge an ancient passage in Tuamotu
Gone with the floods
Our only hope to cross the jungle’s ends
But still with baited breath I know we’ll find a way to run the Devil’s haul
Shore in retreat
As it is with greater horizons on the other side
The sails hoisted and the banners raised up high
Our Equatorial admission drawing nigh
The waves’ conceit
Will surely find a way to turn the tide
Through glaucous chasms with their misting ivory crowns
The coastal epochs clouding up and backing down
On the horizon
Storming the sea
The ocean howling endlessly
Tectonic vengeance
Winds of the east
Tiding the nords to the mark of the beast
Our vessel is wasted
I am drenched to the bone
Ashore with this oaken messiah of stone
Crowning the reef
With eastern spoils for our company
My feet within the sands I gaze upon the stars
Witnessing missionary failures from afar
On high relief
Callao to copra grinning oversea
One hundred suns afield we’ve forged upon the mast
Three score our kin will find them in the looking glass.
|
|
10. |
|
|
|
|
Halo in the dead of night
The sanctuary my guiding light
Streets are dead, the air is black
Archpriest in for the attack
Thirty score and thirty reigns
Won’t undo this endless pain
Witches in the Lord’s domain
Never see the light again
Bound in mortal savagery
Magic, sin and heresy
Shackled in the lie we fight
The council’s blood will spill tonight
Night, with the darkness falling
Hand of Sathanas reigning down
Upon this coven
Bred in secrecy
To the wrath of God we pledge
Suffering and agony
Blessed by the will to end this tyranny
Death to the Golden Age at hand
To the ones who cast me down
And decree that I shall never see the light
Yet deceptively exact
All your magic and your spells
Aren’t enough to end this ghastly, ill-bred site
Centuries of oppression breeding endless servitude
Flesh and blood we’ve given you is shamelessly subdued
Altar of hypocrisy now falling like rain
Imminent this prophecy unfolding once again
Clouds of smoke consume the sky as fire burns below
Cities crumble, kingdoms fall, a noble seed we sow
For the servants thou hast slain with deadly effigies
I dissipate my vengeance by God’s own decree
|
|
11. |
|
|
|
|
Behind, the ravages of war
Ahead, they beckon us for more
Draw back, your bows and take your aim
Let fly, our fiery death shall rain
Advance, let loose with savagery
Attack, hail steel diplomacy
March forth, through blood-soaked moors and dales
Delight, in dying armies’ wails
Onward, bring death to all our foes
Behead, all those who dare oppose
Destroy, those spouting heresy
Against, our righteous kings and noble priests
Obey, don’t question what is right
Accept, you’ll never win this fight
In death, you’ll find your liberty
This life, down on your wretched knees
They shall sing of our deeds, in halls flung afar
Crushed under our feet, the land bears the scars
Let arrows fly
Blacken the sky
Their bodies are torn
Their vile ways are done
Their widows are forlorn
Their ranks reduced to none
Their blood, it soaks the ground
Their cities set to flame
They raise not a sound
Their kingdoms we have claimed
They shall sing of our deeds, in halls flung afar
Crushed under our feet, the land bears the scars
Let arrows fly
Blacken the sky
|
|
12. |
|
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|
As we ride away
Say farewell to light & life
[Legolas:]
Down the hill from the horse lords’ hall
At the roots of the mountains pale
Twisted trees and a deathly pall
Only choice is that haunted vale
[Gimli:]
Into the dark
Through that gaping door
[The Grey Company:]
Far beneath the world
In hastened fear we tread
From Harrowdale
Along the paths of the dead
White Mountains above
Lurking doom we dread
Unknown tongues call to us
On the paths of the dead
They’ve dwelt in guilt and shame
These cowards trapped ‘twixt life and death
But soon...they shall fight
[Aragorn:]
Sudden blast and the torches die
Yet we press ever onwards now
Coming out under open skies
Hear my call and redeem your vow
Sworn on the stone
Come now and atone
[The Grey Company:]
Far beneath the world
In hastened fear we tread
From Harrowdale
Along the paths of the dead
White Mountains above
Lurking doom we dread
Unknown tongues call to us
On the paths of the dead
[Aragorn:]
Long was my road
In winding miles and years
My secret load
Guided by ancient seers
Down from the north
Driven by urgent need
Thus I set forth
Forced to ancestral deed
We have come hence
[The Dead:]
TO FULFIL THE OATH WE SWORE
[Aragorn:]
Crush Mordor’s servants
End the curse of Isildur
[Gimli/The Dead:]
His banner
Unfurls now
It’s black as night, yet somehow
They see it
With dead eyes
The seven stars of his line
The blade that
Was broken
The heir of kings has spoken
Commanded
We march on
And pass the Vale of Morthond
Narsil’s shards are whole again
A flame to light the Age of Men
Legions of the dead behind
As they emerge one final time from
[The Grey Company:]
Far beneath the world
In hastened fear we tread
From Harrowdale
Along the paths of the dead
White Mountains above
Lurking doom we dread
Unknown tongues call to us
On the paths of the dead
And so we push towards
The southern line of Sauron’s hordes
The field of Pelennor
Cries out in anguish, bathed in gore
So we set our sails
Borne on mighty Anduin
|
|
13. |
|
|
|
|
Evil deeds it has long seen
Bathed in martyr’s blood
Victors it has made
Have fallen to its blade
All who wield it fate has shielded
Eternal victory
Forged in darkest fire
Raging ever higher
Battles have been won
Dynasties undone
The sword of ages
War it wages
Victory is near
Dreams in restlessness
Night descends like madness
Silence in the shadows
Captivating all who fear
Swear on the steel
In blood it’s sealed
Sworn to victory
Twist of fate
A cold death waits
Sworn to victory
Surrounded now we find ourselves
They have left no escape
Gaze into the blackened eyes
See the agony take shape
The skies will mourn this darkened day
The rivers will run red
The treacherous deeds will be repaid
By the souls of the dead
In his hands, exalted blade
The sword does not betray
He who bears it shall never fall
So claims the ancient lore
Scores of men come to their end
Their lives gone one by one
Shattered, battered,
Broken lie the fallen
We have won
Jealousy and growing greed
The bearer’s blood is freed
As fate again is carried out
By hands that now betray
Run on his sword a noble lord
Now holds the fabled blade
He is crowned
And mortals downed
The time will come to pay
You will pay with your life
By the sword
We are sworn to victory
Swear on the steel
In blood it’s sealed
Sworn to victory
Twist of fate
A cold death waits
Sworn to victory
|
|
14. |
|
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|
|
Under a spell of regressive unease
Struggle to gather what my mind decrees
Scattered about are these visions of mine
With tidings of war, and the ghastly ill signs
Men of deception creating the ultimate divine
Creed and corruption dancing with fate as they entwine
Standing alone here in search of the key
To fortunes we'd hitherto never foresee
A price for the living of lives so in vain
That yearn for the threshold of pleasure and pain
Shattered and lifeless disfiguring everything I see
Screams of redemption, bleeding into a misery
Where the twisted one dwells casting archaic spells unto me
Just once in time I failed to see
The flash of darkness in your eyes
That shed my blindness away
To manifest within mankind
A ceremony of infernal might
Paints your hollow prophecies with fire!
Our life continues
A futile waste of man
Bereft of all progression
Never to understand
So the moral chains of existence
Are sealed to well within
Quest for darkness continues
Death of man begins
And slowly we fade into the edges of time
Cold, shattered and grim
Crossing the plain
Black is the air
With silence insane
Eyes peer through the mist
Seeing the light
Stricken with fear entranced buy the sight
Child, follow me now
Into my home
Dismal and bleak
This kingdom I roam
There, over the hills
Lies the abyss
There you will find
Solace and bliss
|
Steel Diplomacy includes two complete live fest recordings from Burning Shadows' Steel Diplomacy 2019 European Tour: Riddle of Steel III in Marburg, Germany (multitrack board recording) and Into Battle Volume III in Athens, Greece (field recording).
released September 9, 2022
Tom Davy - Lead Vocals
Aaron El-Zeftawy - Bass
Christopher Malerich - Lead Guitar
Tim Regan - Rhythm Guitar, Vocals
David Spencer - Drums
"Live in Germany" tracks engineered by Davide Colombo
All tracks mixed & mastered by Tim Regan
Produced by Tim Regan & Burning Shadows